The national accounts for the June quarter do not support the popular narrative of a severe cost of living crisis, as Alan Austin reports. IN HER PUBLIC COMMENTS on last Wednesday’s (4 September 2024) national accounts , Katherine Keenan said: ' The Australian economy grew for the 11th consecutive quarter, although growth slowed over the 2023-24 financial year. ' What the head of national accounts at the Australian Bureau of Statistics ( ABS ) could have added, but may not have known, was that only two economies of all the advanced democracies can boast that record — Australia and Belgium .
Last week’s numbers look pretty ordinary on their own. The quarterly increase in gross domestic product (GDP) was 0.22% and the annual rise was 1.
49%. Both are low compared with the strong growth numbers since the economic transformation of the 1980s. Global data confirms this is now a low growth era.
Of the 32 OECD member countries to have reported quarterly data for June, eight reported zero or negative growth. These include normally robust economies Germany, Sweden, Austria and South Korea. Another 21 countries, including Australia, recorded positive growth below 1%.
These include powerhouses Japan, Switzerland, Denmark, Britain and the USA. So sluggish GDP growth is now normal, even in well-managed economies. The entire world has been impacted by the war in Ukraine, China’s slowdown , global inflation , famines , refugee movements and increased focus on non-economic growth .
An.